Music Notes with Ms Blue

This lesson plan is for those who want to make a full lesson from the free available resource Pink: A Hairy Tale. It is designed to help children develop empathy.

This handout/poster/insert goes over the differences between proactive students vs. their peers using concrete examples. I used it as an insert for my weekly workbooks as well as a mini-poster on my bulletin board.

This is a weekly evaluation tool for students. I used this rubric as an insert for my workbooks for all of my students at a high-needs school. It could easily be used as a single handout for specific students. It helps to go over the rubric with the class/student(s) the first time they use it.

These are some extra ideas for you to consider for units for music appreciation. (The handout I use for acoustics is available separately on this site.) These ideas could also be re-written and used for substitute lessons. (This is NOT a finished set of lesson plans.)

This is an example of what to include in your first lecture. (It's probable that your principal will have you use ice breakers the first day.) Make sure to look over and think about how you want that first day to go. (I decided to go directly into early material and ended with an exit card.) If it's your first year, make sure that you've included everything that your particular school required. **It's best (and easiest) to use the same headings that your school lists.** This makes it easier to g

This worksheet helps students to "grade" their classroom's acoustics according to four categories: shape, absorption, diffusion, and reverberation and amplification. This handout is originally from a music appreciation class, but it could be used for science classes as well. Plus, going through the rubric with your class may cover your school's requirement for using ELA in non-ELA classrooms.

Pink: A Hairy Tale is a short ebook that helps children develop empathy. The video playlist includes the read thru and a short assessment video. The ebook is available for download to use in class or to send home as a link for parents. (A lesson plan is available for a small fee.) Good luck with your year!

This is a brief description of how to set up an instrument rotation unit. I used this for a music appreciation class for kids who wanted to learn to play music instead of simply analyzing it. This could work well as part of a general music class or as part of your early training for percussionists in band. I think that it could also be beneficial for technique training for choristers who will be playing instruments on stage. I hope that it helps you!

This includes tips and examples for beginning music teachers or teachers who've simply never needed to teach music appreciation before. (This is NOT a finished set of lesson plans.)

This video contains an review for students who've watched the read thru.

This video for "Pink: A Hairy Tale" can be used alone as a transition during class or as part of a larger lesson.